New with question..

[Kathryntheclean]

Hello, everyone. Never done a forum before, so excuse my stupidity or ignorance of where or how to do posts properly...... my 13 year old daughter and I have recently purchased a baby albino corn snake, Alex. We are unsure if it's male or female. It's beautiful and we are already in love... We do have a question and, again, my brain is unable to decide where I should put the question.... I will put it here in hopes someone can answer. Our baby, 10 inches in length, seems normal but comes out at night and stays very near the nighttime heat lamp. Alex will sit at the top of the enclosure where there is a tiny spot for it to squeeze into. We want to know if that's ok. It's about 80 degrees there according to the thermostat. Is this normal for our young corn? Thanks guys!

[EL Ziggy]

Welcome aboard Kathryn. Sometimes snakes will bask close to their heat lamps or he could just be looking for an escape which they're prone to do. Is the heat lamp your sole heat source and are you controlling your temps with a thermostat or dimmer? Share a picture of your snake and setup when you can. There are lots of nice people here with very helpful information.

[Kathryntheclean]

So, we have a heat pad and the heat lamp, neither with a dimmer switch. Alex is hanging out on the cool side over his water bowl now. My best guess is that he was getting warm? He's done this every night since we got him. (Just 3 days ago) Tried a picture. He's in the "s"position, smelling the air with his tongue. As an avid animal-lover but first time snake owner, I just wanted to make sure everything's ok. I just can't get the pic to do right.... sorry.

[jay's reptiles]

So, we have a heat pad and the heat lamp, neither with a dimmer switch. Alex is hanging out on the cool side over his water bowl now. My best guess is that he was getting warm? He's done this every night since we got him. (Just 3 days ago) Tried a picture. He's in the "s"position, smelling the air with his tongue. As an avid animal-lover but first time snake owner, I just wanted to make sure everything's ok. I just can't get the pic to do right.... sorry.

Do you know the exact tempature of the heat pad, the hot side, and the cold side.

[EL Ziggy]

You need to have 5 posts before you can post pics Kathryn. In the meantime you really do NEED to have your heat source controlled by a thermostat. Those under tank heaters can get hot enough to burn your snake, it can also cause him to refuse to eat or to regurgitate if he does. The heat lamp can go on a dimmer so it's easy to control too. I would also invest in an temp gun so you can accurately measure the temps anywhere in the enclosure. Also, do you have hides on the warm and cool sides of your enclosure? Once you get your husbandry dialed in you can really enjoy your new critter. Here are some examples of the things you'll need.

https://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPRTC-Digital-Thermostat-Heat/dp/B000NZZG3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487862773&sr=8-1&keywords=hydrofarm+thermostat


https://www.amazon.com/Flukers-Repta-Clamp-8-5-Inch-Ceramic-Dimmable/dp/B003H200QC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487862850&sr=8-2&keywords=clamp+lamp+with+dimmer

https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lasergrip-774-Non-contact-Thermometer/dp/B00837ZGRY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487862890&sr=8-1&keywords=ir+temp+gun

[Kathryntheclean]

Oh, goodness, thanks for the info. I'll get the thermostat today, then. I just know the heat pad feels hot on my skin, so imagine it's too warm for our baby. Should it be turned off for now? Alex really likes the heat lamp, though. I think, anyway.

[Andy_G]

I would turn it off for the time being Kathryn, as it's better for them to be slightly cool than too hot. If it feels hot to you, it is much too hot for your snake. At this time it's important to key in all the temps so they are correct, and do your best to not bother him or handle him at all until he has eaten a few times in your care.

[Kathryntheclean]

Yes, it has been turned off for now. I'm about to head to the pet store now to get another hide for the cool side and a control for the heat pad... Alex seems to be happy with his warming day lamp. But, they usually burrow during daylight, right? Should I worry if he's basking now?

[EL Ziggy]

Just let him acclimate as he sees fit for now. He may bask for a while then hide for a while. The main thing is to get those temps dialed in. Once that's done, and you get him to eat, it's pretty much smooth sailing ;).

[Kathryntheclean]

Thank you so much! I feel much better for him now.

[Kathryntheclean]

Alex is a happy snake! His warm side is now set to 85 degrees. Cool side, 70. Sound alright? As for his mites, he received a warm 20 minute bath (that's all he could stand) then was wiped down with a rag that had a spray of water/Nix on it. His tank has been thoroughly cleaned with the same spray. Substrate removed and white paper towels were put in to see any remaing mites. Some came off in his bath. Should I do anything else for him or just wait for his vet visit now? He also had his dinner for this week. He was so happy to have his pinky mouse!

[akane]

If it has a range of temps with hiding places I would not think it is an issue. Maybe for a more sensitive species but I don't have thermostats on any of my lights and 80F is not that risky of getting too hot even with room fluctuations. I run my heat gun over the whole enclosure periodically and have room thermometers. It turns out the top of the stack of rocks under the heat lamp in my bull snake tank gets 90F but he doesn't have to go there and doesn't. Although, now he's a bit big to get on the top of my rough pyramid shape stacking setup anyway. He mostly sits under the bottom cave below the heat lamp so it's farther away and fully blocked from directly reaching him or 1 level up partially under the rock there when digesting a meal. Then he has the other end which is in the 70s but he rarely uses it. My other tanks aren't that extreme since the bull is probably my hardiest snake so I haven't tried for very detailed conditions but they are all similarly setup. I make sure they stay within a good range from the hottest to coolest point with shelter so they can get away from the top heat or feel safe at any area of temperatures in the tank and that's it. The snakes decide the rest and I watch the snakes. They generally make home base partially based on hides within their most comfortable temps and then use other areas as needed like when digesting a big meal or the random hot days we've had without turning on the air conditioning. My adult rosy is most often the one using the cool end. I did have to open the window and turn on a fan because it was 79F in the room with my bigger snakes and lights plus aquariums so they didn't have much of a cool area. Making those days "rain days" for my bioactive tanks also cools things down through evaporation of the fresh water and I misted the rocks under the lamps extra for that reason. It's supposed to be cold again for a couple weeks. Air conditioning will keep the rooms stable when we get solidly into warm weather so room fluctuations won't be an issue again. I could see that more sensitive snakes, especially that don't use a setup with a temp gradient and the increased temp difficulties of arboreals who don't take heat from objects, may require more careful control but I don't see it necessary for a corn snake with a lamp that doesn't even go over 80F. I'd probably actually upgrade the heat if the room is expected to stay that temp, the snake is spending it's most active hours (they tend to be more nocturnal, especially when settling in) under the heat, and the tank is long enough to still maintain a cool enough area at the other end. Smaller tanks it can be a little hard to get enough gradient so the temp differences have to be narrower to avoid forcing them into an area too hot or cold all the time. I don't really like my 2 enclosures shorter than a 10gallon tank for that reason. They've become plant cutting growout, anole lizard quarantine, and temporary holding of small snakes when setting up a new 10 or 20gallon for them.

A heat pad may be a bigger concern. I have heard of burns from bottom heating objects. The snakes don't always move off of them. I haven't had snakes long enough or used heat pads enough to know that behavior pattern. I have one small heat pad I use as a backup that has a control dial built in so I can set it to never heat too much depending on the temps the room reaches. I've never gotten anything that hot with top heat on it. My largest bulb is 100w. When heat lamps have blown in winter without a small enough backup bulb I've put stone tile under parts of the reflector holding it so that it would limit how much of it reached the tank and how far across the tank it covered.

[Kathryntheclean]

I see. Well, that certainly helps. So, I guess as long as Alex is not displaying any bizarre behavior, he's probably fine. He seems to be pretty happy- as snakes go! Thank you for the information. That was extremely helpful.